School committee approves updated COVID-19 handbook after heated public comment on mask policy

The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District School Committee on Aug. 19 approved revisions to its COVID‑19 handbook, including a "test-and-stay" option for unvaccinated close contacts, after a prolonged public-comment period in which parents and residents clashed over the district's mask mandate.

The motion to adopt the handbook changes and to include the stay-and-test option was moved by Aaron (identified later in the meeting as Mr. Aaronworth) and seconded by Kerry; the motion passed by voice vote. The transcript records no roll-call tally.

The superintendent introduced two documents — an overview of recommended changes and an updated handbook — and asked district lead nurse Karen Young to summarize revisions that align with guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Education and the Department of Public Health. Young said the handbook narrows the definition of a close contact to indoor settings in many cases and describes two options for unvaccinated close contacts: self-quarantine for seven days with a negative PCR test on day five or later, or a "test-and-stay" program involving daily BinaxNOW testing at school while remaining asymptomatic, with a final test on day eight (or the next school day) before the protocol ends.

Many members of the public used the meeting's public-comment period to criticize the committee's mask decision. Matt Catalano urged the committee to allow parents to decide whether their children wear masks and said, "our children are not responsible for other people's health." He also asserted that there were "zero deaths in Massachusetts from COVID-19" among those under 12, a claim raised repeatedly by commenters. Other speakers echoed calls for parental choice and questioned the science and enforcement of the mandate.

Several speakers defended masking. Jennifer Gill cited guidance from the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Yale School of Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, saying these organizations "support mask mandates in school" and arguing that masking helps keep schools open by reducing transmission and quarantine interruptions.

Board members asked operational questions about when the test-and-stay option applies (Karen Young said it is intended for in-school exposures), contact-tracing windows (staff said tracing looks back 48 hours before a positive test or symptom onset), and how the district would handle athletics and locker-room exposure. The nurse and administrators described differentiated procedures for exposures that occur inside school buildings versus household exposures and emphasized parental consent procedures for school-administered testing.

The handbook vote concluded the item. The committee noted it will revisit mask policy as part of its routine monthly review; the superintendent and nurse said the handbook will be updated and posted on the district web page and families will be notified of procedural details including consent forms for the test-and-stay option.

Next steps: the committee will implement the handbook changes, operationalize consent for testing, and continue monthly policy reviews; the school will post the updated handbook online for families.